COVID-19 has swept through a hostel in the Portuguese capital of Lisbon, infecting 138 of the 175 asylum seekers housed there, a municipal official said on Monday.

Portuguese car component manufacturers, among the country’s top exporters, are calling thousands of employees back to work even before a nationwide COVID-19 lockdown is lifted as Europe’s automotive sector resumes production.

From this week a psychology service will be available at Health Centres around the region, aimed at health professionals, as well as citizens, announced Paulo Morgado, president of the board of directors of the Regional Health Administration (ARS) of the Algarve.

Is it possible for the Portuguese property market to luck out on a "clean exit" from the COVID-19 pandemic? The president of the Association of Real Estate Professionals and Companies of Portugal (APEMIP) believes that yes, it may be possible. Luís Lima bases his expectation on some of the information he has collected in recent weeks. "I have indications of what is perhaps one of the largest banks operating in our country, discussing information coming in from foreign citizens who are considering coming to Portugal, and that is extremely positive", he told press this week, to sustain the opinion that "if it goes well here, we will send a very positive signal abroad. I don't want to talk bad of countries like Spain or Italy, which are our direct competitors, but I think that real estate can help us", as happened in the previous crisis, in which the sector "pushed for urban rehabilitation and helped to recover the market".

Portuguese utility giant EDP has been hit by a cyberattack and is facing a €10m ($11m) ransomware demand, according to multiple reports in the Portuguese media.

Hairdressers’ across the country will begin to open to the public again. Prior booking and the imposition of a limited number of people inside establishments are two of the rules that the sector will have to observe when, in May, they reopen their doors. The hairdressing sector is among those who should be able to start resuming activity gradually when the state of emergency, which was extended until 2 May, ends.

The government is preparing a set of documents to define the creation of an army reserve of Portuguese citizens, aged between 18 and 35 years old, who can be the target of "exceptional recruitment" if necessary. An "availability reserve" will also be created for those who have completed military service, for six years after the end of that service.

Following the evolution of the health crisis closely, the Association of Hotels and Tourist Enterprises of the Algarve (AHETA) issued today a statement in which it considers that “the Government's measures to support companies are insufficient”.